Issue with Van Rysel D500 - FTMS Control not detected via Bluetooth

[Juan Camilo Marín Castrillón]

Hello everyone,

I am having trouble using my Van Rysel D500 smart trainer with Golden Cheetah (v3.6) on Windows via Bluetooth.

While the software detects the trainer as "VANRYSEL-HT-4484", it only adds it as a basic Power Meter. It does not negotiate the FTMS (Fitness Machine Service) protocol, so the "Slope" and "ERG" controls do not appear in the Train view.

When adding the device, GC skips directly to the "Virtual Power" configuration screen, which shouldn't happen for an interactive smart trainer. I have already verified that no other apps are connected to the trainer.

Given the previous discussions about Van Rysel's non-standard encoding in FIT files, could this be a similar protocol negotiation issue? Is there any way to force the FTMS profile or a specific debug log I can provide?

Thanks for your help.

[Ale Martinez]

El domingo, 11 de enero de 2026 a la(s) 1:44:53 p.m. UTC-3, jcmar...@gmail.com escribió:

Hello everyone,

I am having trouble using my Van Rysel D500 smart trainer with Golden Cheetah (v3.6) on Windows via Bluetooth.

Hi, the first recommendation is to upgrade to the current version (v3.7-sp1) 

While the software detects the trainer as "VANRYSEL-HT-4484", it only adds it as a basic Power Meter. It does not negotiate the FTMS (Fitness Machine Service) protocol, so the "Slope" and "ERG" controls do not appear in the Train view.

There are issues with some internal BT adapters, if yours works ok with the trainer as a PM it may not be the case, but check the troubleshooting section of the wiki just in case, we have no experience with this trainer, may be other users can help. 

When adding the device, GC skips directly to the "Virtual Power" configuration screen, which shouldn't happen for an interactive smart trainer. I have already verified that no other apps are connected to the trainer.

The virtual power step is always present, you just leave it as is if your device provides power, this is explained in the wiki. 

Given the previous discussions about Van Rysel's non-standard encoding in FIT files, could this be a similar protocol negotiation issue? Is there any way to force the FTMS profile or a specific debug log I can provide?

The BT sensor module logs a lot of diagnostic messages to GoldenCheetah.log, parallel to your athlete folder, alternatively you can run GoldenCheetah —debug from a command prompt.

[Juan Camilo Marín Castrillón]

Update: I have updated to v3.7-sp1 and ran the debug mode. Great news: the logs show that the FTMS service is being discovered and recognized correctly: debug: FTMS Capable device found debug: FTMS Reported Resistance Capabilities - Max: 100 Min: 0

However, the Slope/ERG buttons are still not appearing in the Train view UI. I have confirmed the device is connected (green icon). Is there a specific Chart or Sidebar I need to enable in v3.7 to see the interactive controls for an FTMS device?

[Ale Martinez]

El lunes, 12 de enero de 2026 a la(s) 12:28:54 p.m. UTC-3, jcmar...@gmail.com escribió:

Update: I have updated to v3.7-sp1 and ran the debug mode. Great news: the logs show that the FTMS service is being discovered and recognized correctly: debug: FTMS Capable device found debug: FTMS Reported Resistance Capabilities - Max: 100 Min: 0

Great! 

However, the Slope/ERG buttons are still not appearing in the Train view UI. I have confirmed the device is connected (green icon). Is there a specific Chart or Sidebar I need to enable in v3.7 to see the interactive controls for an FTMS device?

I don't know which buttons you expect to find, the Slope/ERG mode depends on the selected workout in GoldenCheetah, see https://github.com/GoldenCheetah/GoldenCheetah/wiki/UG_Side-Bar_Train-view